


The Knight and Her Prince

by astralelegies



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Day Four, F/M, Royai Week 2015, Understanding, What Have I Done, Young Royai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-12
Updated: 2015-06-12
Packaged: 2018-04-04 01:01:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4120597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astralelegies/pseuds/astralelegies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Roy Mustang is a prince fated to become the Flame Alchemist, the one who will receive the gift of a power that could save or destroy the world. For this fact his parents have relegated him to confinement in an underwater palace, utterly alone. Riza Hawkeye is a knight-in-training with a tattoo on her back and a grudge against the father that put it there. Bound together by a sense of mutual understanding, Riza sets off on a risky quest to free Roy from his imprisonment. But something lurks in the shadows beneath the water, and success or failure, this mission could cost both Roy and Riza everything. </p>
<p>For Royai Week day four: understanding.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Knight and Her Prince

Once upon a time in the faraway land of Amestris, there was a prince who lived in an underwater palace. This palace had everything—sturdy walls cut from the coral reef that grew up around it, furnishings inlaid with only the finest pearls and shells the ocean had to offer, glass ceilings and a room composed entirely of windows so he could look upon the many wonders of his surroundings at his leisure. A pod of trained dolphins came to him twice a fortnight with food, clothing, messages from his family, and anything else he might desire. He had a wing devoted to his collection of books, and another containing a smattering of expensive and complicated scientific equipment. He could eat what he pleased, do what he wanted, and no one was there to make him answer for it. 

No one was there at all, ever. On the night Roy Mustang was born, it was prophesized that he was destined to become the Flame Alchemist, the one who would receive the gift of fire that had the potential to either save or destroy the country. Nobody knew when or how this “gift” would arrive, but the king and queen were uneasy. For eight years they watched their son grow up, becoming increasingly anxious about the day his abilities would manifest themselves. Finally, just before his ninth birthday, they sealed him in an underwater palace they had secretly ordered the construction of to wait for the day when he would obtain his powers. 

“He can’t burn his way out of an underwater palace,” they reasoned, “he can learn to control his gift without it becoming a threat, and once he’s proven himself he can join the world again.” They nursed a secret hope that he would never become the Flame Alchemist, that the prophecy was wrong, because really, who trusts those batty old fortune tellers anyway. 

The prince, needless to say, was not happy about any of this. 

He spent the remainder of his childhood as well as his adolescence in utter solitude. Though his family sent him countless messages he never responded to them, unable to forgive them for what he considered to be his imprisonment. The only notes he sent back were a few short words when he was in need of sustenance or a particular research material.

Books became his only comfort. Books, and the study of alchemy. He poured over ancient texts and cutting edge research manuals alike, honing his skills so that he could one day escape and save his country, proving wrong his parents and their fears. But though he searched and searched, and though he was provided with every alchemic volume of note in existence, the science of flame alchemy continued to elude him. 

_I’m missing something_ , he always thought, _I have to be missing something._

This was how he spent day after dreary day, until a letter arrived on the night of his eighteenth birthday. That was when everything changed. 

* * * 

Riza Hawkeye didn’t know exactly when she’d gotten her tattoo, or why it had been placed there. She would rather like to have been informed before something large and esoteric was transcribed on her back, after all it was her body, and she was no fool. She knew alchemy when she saw it.

“Do not show this to anyone,” her father had said before he died. Riza had the sneaking suspicion he was partway (or more than partway) responsible for the tattoo’s appearance. Perhaps that was why she’d decided to become a knight—just to spite him. 

At eighteen she was already one of the most talented protégées of Dame Olivier Mira “I-Could-Wield-A-Sword-Before-I-Could-Walk” Armstrong, captain of the knights of Amestris. In whispers, Dame Armstrong was called the Ice Queen, the Dragon Tamer, the Northern Wall. It was said she’d killed a man with her big toe. It was said she’d single-handedly slain the great giant Drachma and used his bones to manufacture her weapons (legend had it giant bone was harder than steel). Riza Hawkeye had been studying under her for nearly two years and was still more than a little bit intimidated. 

It was two years exactly when the day came for the prince’s next birthday to be celebrated. He would be the same age as her, now. Riza always found it a little bit ridiculous that the king and queen continued to celebrate in his honor when they were the ones who’d relegated him to an isolated existence below the sea. She was one of the few citizens to have actually met him before he was placed in captivity—not long before his confinement his family had been passing through her home village and he’d snuck away from the caravan to visit her father. He’d wanted a peek at the senior Hawkeye’s research, which her father had denied him, royal standing be damned. She’d been impressed with the boy’s audacity. Members of her family were always a force to be reckoned with. 

_Must be lonely, spending half your life trapped in an underwater castle all by yourself._ The thought crossed Riza’s mind unbidden as she waited for admittance in the entry to Dame Armstrong’s office. 

Her eyes drifted across a stack of paper on a side table, and she was struck by a sudden, fairly brazen idea. She ran to get a pen.

* * * 

At first, Roy’s birthday was just the same as any other day. Granted, it contained more cake than ordinary, and his parents had sent him eighteen presents— _as if they could buy my forgiveness_ —but then something rather odd fell out of one of the dolphin’s packages. 

It was an unmarked letter in a hand he wasn’t familiar with. He picked it up, turning it over to scan for any clues as to the sender’s identity. Seeing none, he opened it.

_Greetings, your highness. I apologize for the intrusion. My name is Riza Hawkeye, and you met me once, a very long time ago when we were children. You were trying to extract alchemical knowledge from my father. Now, of course, things are different. I’m training to become a knight, you’re stuck in a castle. I would imagine that’s very inconvenient for you._

_What if I come and bust you out?_

_~ R. Hawkeye, Esq._

He slowly put down the note. 

In nine years, not a single person had come close to making that kind of offer. He’d hardly even received so much as a condolence from anyone other than his parents. They’d tried to get him a touch with a few potential suitors, but his location and the infrequency of his communication, coupled with his obstinate will, nulled their efforts. And now here was a girl, a commoner, no less, who’d waltzed up and found a way to dispatch this paper to him, offering to break him free in spite of the fact that he was a virtual stranger.

The girl had guts. 

He scrambled for something to write with and jotted a brief message on a scrap of one of his gift wrappings. _Your proposition intrigues me. How can you be sure our transmissions won’t be intercepted? ~ R.M._ He slipped the note into an empty box, sent the dolphins off again, and waited. 

* * *

_Rebecca Catalina. My best friend and the woman in charge of making sure your packages are delivered. Don’t worry, she’s trustworthy. That girl will go to any length to help me meet boys. (Which, incidentally, is not actually why I’m doing this.) She’ll sneak my letters to you and make sure I get yours in return. This way we can plot your escape.  
~ Hawkeye_

_Why are you doing this?  
~ R.M._

_Because I know what it’s like to be a prisoner in your own home.  
~ Hawkeye _

* * *

They exchanged many more letters over the following months, sometimes several at once. Initially they stuck to strictly discussing the plan, but soon they branched out to other matters as well. 

_You know, if you’re planning on ruling this country one day, you should probably study more than just alchemy books.  
~ Hawkeye_

_No comment.  
~ R.M._

_I mean it, your highness. You need to study political theory, the laws and ordinances of Amestris, current legislation, sweeping social problems, our neighboring nations…a good ruler is a well-informed one.  
~ Hawkeye_

_But that’s boring!  
~ R.M._

_You would still like me to come and rescue you, yes?  
~ Hawkeye _

_Would you look at that, I just found three volumes of Amestrian history I’d never noticed before.  
~ R.M. _

She liked the way he signed everything with his initials instead of getting pompous about his title; he liked the way she spoke to him in that no-nonsense way of hers like he was an ordinary person. They’d tell themselves it was foolish, thinking they could found a friendship on a few simple messages passed back and forth, assuming it gave them some sort of mutual understanding. They’d never even met each other, but each found they esteemed the correspondence more and more. 

Working out how Riza was going to get in and get him out again was tricky. There was a cave that led to some form of entrance to his palace, but the prince, being an idiot, hadn’t managed to discover it yet. He claimed it was so superbly hidden he doubted even his parents would be able to locate it a second time. He also didn’t know where the cave’s entrance was or if there was anything guarding it. He was also pretty sure the door had some kind of alchemic lock on it as an extra precaution. Their general lack of knowledge was a struggle to work through, but eventually they composed something that almost resembled a plan.

At last the time came for Riza to set off on her quest. She almost didn’t want to go. She’d have no way of reaching him on her journey, and what if after she sprung him free he never spoke to her again? She tried not to think about that.

Far scarier at the moment was the prospect of confronting Dame Armstrong with her plan. She’d been sorely tempted to just go on the run, but then she’d likely lose her apprenticeship and any scrap of favor she might have built up in the captain’s eyes. If she talked to her about it before hand, she stood slightly more of a chance, even if it meant several hours of terror and dread. 

Predictably, the reaction was not a favorable one. 

“You want to do _what_?”

Riza gulped. “I would like to request a brief leave of absence so that I can break the prince free from his captivity.”

Dame Armstrong glared down at her, and Riza could practically feel herself shrinking. 

“The last I checked, that’s more than a little bit illegal, squire.”

“I—I know.” Riza took a slow breath to calm herself. “But I don’t think keeping him locked up is technically legal either, because he’s a prisoner even if officially no one is acknowledging it. Even the king and queen are not above the law.”

She was counting on the fact that she knew Dame Armstrong to be an honorable woman. She wasn’t the type to tolerate anyone shirking their duty, even the country’s leaders. Her glare’s transition to a frown caused a spark of hope to flutter up in Riza’s chest. 

“It’s true what the prince’s parents did is unethical,” Dame Armstrong said, “but they are still our rulers. Even so, the point you make is a fair one, so I will grant you this.”

Hawkeye held her breath. 

“I will let you go and ignore your blatant disregard for authority, because you show spirit, and you’ll need that to survive as a knight of Amestris.”

“Thank y—

“However.” Dame Armstrong held up a finger to command Riza’s silence. “If you do not succeed in your attempt, you do not get to continue to study under me. You know the rules. Survival of the fittest. You must prove yourself to be one of the strong ones.”

Riza saluted. “Understood. Thank you, ma’am.”

“And one more thing.”

Was it Riza’s imagination, or did Dame Armstrong’s ice-hard features soften for just a moment?

“Men are seldom worth it. I hope for your sake this one is.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Riza saluted again, and left. 

* * * 

As it turned out, questing was not as exciting a profession as popular novels would make it seem. Riza had been traveling seaside for two days and hadn’t caught sign of a single thing resembling a cave. She and Rebecca had figured out, via process of elimination, the probable general location of the entrance. In addition, she knew it would be hidden, but also accessible from land, because even royalty weren’t capable of breathing underwater. Still, she hadn’t expected the search to be so tedious. Finally, on her third day out, she decided to stop in at the nearest town to see if anyone knew about cave systems. 

The first building she came across had a sign outside proclaiming it to be “Rockbell Automail—Dr. Pinako Rockbell, proprietor.”

_Well, it’s worth a shot._

Riza knocked twice, and when the door opened was immediately confronted with the excited barking of a medium-sized dog and a tinier-sized girl wrestling him to the ground. When she’d gotten him quiet, the girl stuck out a hand.

“I’m Winry of Rockbell Automail,” she said brightly, “how may I help you?”

Riza shook the girl’s hand. “Well, Miss Winry, I’m looking for someone who can tell me about any caves in this area.”

“I can’t do much for you there, but my grandmother used to know a thing or two about that.” Winry pushed the door open again with one arm and dragged Riza inside with the other. “Granny! There’s a lady here who wants to know about caves.” 

A woman no larger than Winry sat smoking a pipe and surveying a pile of gears. 

“What do you mean, caves?” she asked, without looking up from her work. 

“I am sorry to intrude, Dr. Rockbell,” Riza said, bowing, “My name is Riza Hawkeye. I am looking for a very particular cave and your granddaughter told me you might be able to help. It wouldn’t be too far from here, probably hidden…goes all the way down to the ocean floor.”

Dr. Rockbell turned slowly from the gears she’d been inspecting to fix Riza with a suspicious stare.

“What would you be wanting to find a cave like that for?”

“It might be there’s treasure at the bottom,” Riza replied carefully, “something that’s been unfairly kept from the world at large.” 

“So there might.” Dr. Rockbell puffed on her pipe. “As it happens, I do know the cave you mean. It’s a couple miles out from here. I’m too old to lead you there myself, but Winry knows the way.”

Winry blinked. “I do?”

“Do you remember when you were studying to become a mechanic and I pointed out to you a certain cavern because it contained deep reserves of iron, which is used in making steel for automail?”

“Oh, of course! And then I asked if we could go in and get a closer look but you said that wouldn’t be possible.”

“How would you like to get a closer look now?”

Winry’s eyes grew wider. “Ohhhhh yes I would love that! It’s rare to find such a large reservoir of iron in a cave like that, I would never pass up such an amazing research opportunity.”

“How old are you, young lady?” Riza asked. 

“I'm almost eleven,” Winry told her proudly, “and I’m already one of the best automail mechanics in the country, ask anyone.”

“It’s true,” Dr. Rockbell said, “one of these days she’ll even surpass me.”

“Well then, Miss Winry.” Riza held out a hand. “Would you care to accompany me to this cave of yours?”

Winry took it, beaming.

“You two be careful out there.” Dr. Rockbell made a warning gesture at them with her pipe. “I trust you know what you’re doing, Miss Hawkeye, you seem like that type of person. But I hope you’re prepared to deal with the consequences of your actions.”

Riza nodded grimly. “I am.” 

Dr. Rockbell gave her another hard stare. 

“Good. Now get out of my shop, you have business to attend to.”

* * * 

Roy read the note again. 

_I’m leaving on my quest to find you today. If all goes well it’ll be with Dame Armstrong’s blessing. If not, well…I hope you know something about backup professions. You’d better be worth the risk, your highness. I don’t know when I’ll find you. Maybe a few days, maybe a few weeks. I hope not more than a few weeks. But I will find you, and I will get you out. I promise.  
~ Hawkeye _

“I’ll be worth it, Hawkeye,” he muttered aloud, “That’s my promise to you. An equivalent exchange.”

He wished she could be there to hear him. He began to pace. 

* * *

“This is the spot.” Winry pointed to a sealed outcropping of rock ahead of them.

Riza moved closer to inspect it. It must have been stopped up with alchemy. Or just a few particularly strong laborers. And even though she hadn’t caught sight of any guards yet, her instincts told her they weren’t alone.

“Stay close by me, Miss Winry.”

It was a bit of a redundant phrase since Winry was still clutching her fingers. 

“Miss Riza?” she whispered, “I think I hear something moving behind those trees.” 

Riza had caught it too. There, barely a stone’s throw away from their location, came a sound like faint breathing from behind a copse of oaks. Riza motioned for Winry to stay where she was and slowly advanced on the noise. She dove around the trees, silent as a bird of prey, sword out and at the ready.

It was met with the clang as it scraped against a long combat knife. The blade’s owner was a bespectacled man only a couple years older than her smiling triumphantly. 

“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice your presence?”

“I don’t know, I seem to be surrounded by idiots in my daily obligations, why not here too?” Riza countered. She attacked again but he sidestepped her easily. 

“So you’re not a complete imbecile.”

He grinned at her. “I think it’s unfair to assume I would be one.”

Riza faked a jab and came at him from a different angle. He only barely managed to parry on time. 

“Your style bears the mark of Armstrong training.”

“I’m guessing you’ve worked with her as well?”

“She told me I wasn’t fit to be a knight and kicked me out.”

“So that’s how you ended up here.” Riza escalated her assault. 

The man was holding his own fairly decently, though he was still hardly a match for Riza’s skills. Then she tripped over a root and lost her balance. It was a brief stumble, but just enough of an opening for him to slip his knife to her throat.

_Damn._

“Don’t hurt her! I have good aim and a wrench and I’m not afraid to use it!” Winry brandished the apparatus menacingly. 

“Wait.” The man stopped in his tracks. “Winry Rockbell, is that you?”

He dropped his knife, and Riza took the opportunity to put her sword at his chest.

“Mr. Hughes?” 

“You know this man?”

Winry nodded slowly. “I think so, but I haven’t seen him in a long time. Is it really you, Mr. Hughes?”

“It very well is.” He moved to go closer, then noticed Riza’s weapon. “Oh, you can put that down now.”

Riza looked to Winry. Winry gave her the “it’s okay” signal, so she grudgingly lowered the sword. 

“What are you doing here?” Hughes asked. 

“Miss Riza wanted to see the cave.”

“Why’s that?” This was directed at Hawkeye. 

“Mr. Hughes, do you know what it is you’re guarding?”

“No, not exactly,” he said, “but I gathered it’s something important. If I let anyone through, if they even could get through, I wouldn’t just be losing my job.”

_His head too, I would imagine,_ Riza thought, but she’d come too far to let this stop her. 

“One could say that the prince’s life certainly is important.”

“Wait, hang on, so you mean... no.”

“Yes.” Riza looked him dead in the eyes. “This cave could very well lead to the entrance to the prince’s underwater palace. I am here to pass through the cave so I can help him escape.”

“So that’s the treasure it holds, Miss Riza?”

“It is. I only hope this idiot here doesn’t stand in my way. I don’t want to have to take him out.”

“You certainly didn’t mind that a few minutes ago.”

Riza raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t either.”

Hughes approached Winry, kneeling down in front of her. “What do you think?”

“I…I don’t know.” Winry looked back and forth between the two of them. “I don’t think it’s fair to be kept inside all the time, and not be allowed to see the world or other people. I feel bad for the prince.”

“I do too,” Riza said, “that’s why I’m here to rescue him.”

Hughes straightened up and turned to her. “Well, you heard the girl. I won’t stop you.” 

“Really? Just like that?”

“I’ve never agreed with the prince’s confinement,” he said, “no good parents would ever do that to their child.”

_Good parents don’t tattoo their dangerous research onto their daughter’s back without asking, either._

“Thank you, Mr. Hughes.”

“Nonsense. And anyway, don’t thank me yet, you still have to figure out how to get in the cave. Those rocks are too big to move by hand.”

“And that’s where we come in.”

Two boys stepped out of the trees. They looked to be ten or eleven, maybe, although one of them was short enough to be even younger. 

“Ed!” Winry cried, “What are you _doing_ here? And Al, you too? How long have you been here?”

“We heard fighting and thought we might be able to help,” the boy named Al told her. 

“It looks like you could use my assistance.” The other boy, Ed, stepped up to Riza. “You said you can’t move the rocks?”

“Yes, but I don’t see—

“Step aside.”

He moved confidently in front of the blocked cave mouth. He drew something on the ground—a transmutation circle—and clapped his hands to it. A moment later, a stone door appeared.

“You’re an alchemist!” Hughes exclaimed.

“This country sure is full of talented children,” Riza muttered. Then she addressed the rest of the group. 

“Thank you, all of you, for your help. I’m going in now. Mr. Hughes, would you be willing to guard the entrance until my return?”

“Of course.”

Riza turned to go.

“Wait!” It was Winry. “Miss Riza, you promised me I’d get to see the inside of the cave.”

“So I did. Alright, then, but stay right by me, and if I sense any danger you’re leaving, okay?”

“Okay.”

Riza reached in her pocked and produced a box of matches and a candle. She lit it, took a deep breath, and pushed open the doors.

* * *

The cave air was dank and disused, but breathable. Riza hoped that’d last until they reached the bottom. Winry gripped her hand firmly, suddenly anxious now that they were in this eerie space, and Riza didn’t blame her. She felt a strange sense of foreboding lurking in every shadow. 

She decided to make conversation to distract herself.

“How does your grandmother know about this place, Winry?” 

“Granny and Hughes’ mom were drinking buddies,” Winry explained, “so I knew him before he left to become a soldier. Granny must’ve seen him poking around here one day and pestered the information out of him.”

“That makes sense.”

“He’s not a bad man, Miss Riza. I’m sorry you two were fighting.”

“So am I.”

They continued on in silence. The atmosphere became staler as they went along, every corner and bend in the tunnel an ominous dark hole. She was glad she had the candle.

“I thought an iron cave would be less creepy,” Winry said softly.

“You thinking about turning back?” Riza asked.

Winry shook her head vehemently. It was better to be scared in the company of a friend than journeying to safety but alone.

At last they came to another set of doors.

“I think this is it,” Riza breathed. She tried to open them, but no luck.

“There’s no sign of a keyhole,” she said after inspecting them for a moment, “must be alchemically sealed.”

“I can fix that.” Winry produced a compact toolkit seemingly from nowhere. “Ed did that to his watch once, but I managed to pry it open.”

She went to work. The minutes ticked by, each additional one adding an another layer of unease to Riza’s mind. Finally Winry let out an exclamation and sprang back.

“That should have done the trick.”

The doors slowly opened. Inside it was pitch black. Winry took Riza’s hand and together they stepped over the threshold. 

* * *

At first Roy thought he was hallucinating the sound of footsteps. Wistful thinking, maybe. But as they drew nearer he leapt to his feet in a panic. He ran his hand over his hair and tried to straighten out the wrinkles in his jacket.

_She’s here she’s here she’s here._

He burst out of the room and came face-to-face with a wary-eyed girl holding a candle out in front of her like a dagger. 

They stared at each other, lost for words. He wondered if he was dreaming. 

“The palace entrance is in your cellar,” said Riza Hawkeye. 

Roy looked at her a moment longer. Then he started laughing, huge, gasping gales that from her expression probably sounded quite alarming. 

“Your highness, are you alright?”

“Fine,” he wheezed, “it’s just…you’re the first person I’ve seen in nine years. I can hardly believe that you’re real.”

Riza poked him in the arm. “I’m real.”

They gazed at each other again. Riza Hawkeye was simultaneously everything and nothing he had expected of her. She looked younger than he did, but still harder than he’d imagined. Tougher, but light on her feet. He drank in the sight of her like a lifeline. 

“I’m surprised you were able to find me,” he managed. 

“I didn’t do it alone. There’s a girl guarding the cellar door, she was the one who showed me here. The guard to the mouth of the cave was an old friend of her family’s and a young alchemist opened up the entrance for me. People can be quite spectacular.”

“I would imagine.” All at once he enveloped her in a bone-crushing embrace. 

Hawkeye squeaked. “Your highness!”

“Sorry.” He backed off. “Still having trouble with the reality thing.” 

His knight looked ruffled, though not entirely at a loss of composure. 

“So, Flame Alchemist, you got any tricks up your sleeve to help you win back your kingdom?”

His smile faded. “I…I…no. I don’t. I’m so sorry, Squire Hawkeye. I told myself I would by the time you got here, but I’ve gone over all my research manuals and I haven’t found anything.”

He searched his pocket for the fragment he’d shoved in it earlier and spread it out on the table. “Here. This is the closest I’ve come.”

An odd expression came over Riza’s face. 

“That’s roughly what the transmutation circle is supposed to look like?”

“Well, yes, but my results are hardly conclusi—arghh! What are you doing?”

He knew what she was doing, she was taking her shirt off, but he couldn’t fathom why and he was slightly alarmed. Then he noticed her tattoo. 

“But—but that’s…”

“My father’s research,” Hawkeye said, “I never knew what it was for until now. I’m trusting you with it, so you’d better not do anything stupid with the information.”

“Of course not. May I—?”

She nodded and he carefully traced a finger along the pattern of ink. He’d been only grasping at straws before, sticking the components together all wrong, but this, this was elegant. 

“Thank you,” he breathed, “I…thank you.”

“It’s a gift.”

“That’s it!” He spun around and hugged her again, then remembered she was partially naked and quickly detached himself, blushing scarlet. “ _Sorry._ I’ve only just realized…people always said flame alchemy would be my gift, but I never really understood it until now. The prophecy didn’t mean ‘gift’ as in talent. It meant it in the literal sense. The knowledge had to be given to me.”

“Wonderful,” Hawkeye said, half-sarcastically, “may I please put my shirt on again?”

“Oh, um, yes.”

She did, while Roy looked away. 

“You ready to go?”

“Not quite.” He looked around. “There’s a few things I’d like to take with.”

Hawkeye rolled her eyes. “There isn’t time for _packing_ , let’s get you out of here.”

“It’s just a volume of notes I’ve written,” he promised, “I can return for the rest of my equipment later.”

He retrieved the manual and then they were on their way back to the cellar. He stopped.

“I’d like to ask you something.”

“Yes?”

“You told me before you decided to rescue me because you know what it’s like to be a prisoner in your own home, and no one’s ever attempted to reach out to me like that before, but I wondered…”

“It’s okay.” She inhaled slowly. “My father was a bitter man. After my mother died he isolated himself from the world, took to looking after his alchemy more than me, more than the house. He scared me, both with his research and his mannerisms. He wouldn’t let me talk to strangers. I managed all our accounts and chores and everything. I think the first time I left home for a place that wasn’t the market or the bank was when I ran away after his funeral to become a knight. And I know that is in no way comparable to your experience, but I thought…I thought I knew how lonely it must be for you here.”

They stared at each other, not speaking. Nothing needed to be said. They understood one another perfectly. Roy leaned closer. 

“Miss Riza!”

Winry came running into the hallway full-tilt. She drew up short, panting, when she saw Roy. She quickly curtsied. 

“It’s an honor to meet you, your highness,” she piped up. 

“And you as well.”

“What is it, Miss Winry?” Riza asked. 

“You might call me crazy, but I…I think there’s something in the cave.”

Riza frowned. “What happened?”

“I don’t know, it was just…just a feeling. Like the darkness was sucking out my bones.”

“It’s probably nothing,” Roy said quickly, “ancient sea caves have all kinds of quirks.”

“Even so, I’ll feel better when we’re out of this place.” She took Winry’s hand. After a moment she tentatively offered her other one to Roy. “It’s best if we stick close.”

He accepted the offer. Her hands were warm. The warmth of human contact was something he’d missed most sorely down here. No one ever thought of touch as a sense needed for survival, but he couldn’t view it as anything but.

They picked their way through the cellar and out the doors. Roy could feel what Winry had meant—it was like every molecule in his body was trying to flee just as he was. He was even more grateful to have Hawkeye beside him. He held her candle in his other hand (he hadn't produced his own because there'd been no time to memorize the alchemical layout for flames). 

No one spoke as they voyaged further into the void. He became aware of a faint scuttling sound, unless that was part of his imagination. They began to walk faster. The scuttling became a whispering, like voices, calling his name. 

“Do you hear that?” 

“Did your parents put something else in this place to keep you here?” Hawkeye demanded. 

“I wouldn’t know,” he called back.

They were running now. The whispering felt like it was getting closer. The shadows seemed to be moving. A dim light came into view ahead of them—the cave opening. He sprinted for it, dragging the other two with him. Something tore at his leg, slashing a large gash down the back of it. 

He had an idea. 

“Squire Hawkeye, would you be willing to show me your father’s research again when we get out?” 

“There’ll be other people by the entrance,” she said doubtfully. 

“I know, and I apologize.” Another gash, this time on his side. Hawkeye’s shoulder was bleeding and Winry had cuts all up her arms. “I need to torch the cave before it can be sealed off.”

“What could will that do?”

“If I burn the palace to the ground, it’ll cause the seawater to come flooding through. Whatever’s in here will be trapped.”

“But the rest of your research…”

“It’s the only way.”

They tore out the mouth of the cave. He had no time to register the people, his surroundings, the feel of the sunlight, before he was on the ground digging a circle into the dirt. Hawkeye lifted her shirt and he quickly copied down the inscription, clapping his hands to the ground. A pack of flames exploded into being, roaring into the cave just as the shadows came creeping out of it.

“I’ll seal it off for you!” A boy dropped down beside him and in an instant had caused a miniature avalanche to block off the tunnel once more. 

The shadows were gone. Roy breathed a huge sigh of relief, and for the first time looked around. The first thing he noticed was the sky. He hadn’t seen it in so long he’d almost forgotten its existence. Then he glanced around at the rest of the people gathered. There was another boy, around the same age as the first, and a man in an Amestrian soldier’s uniform. 

“So you’re Prince Mustang.” The man fell to one knee. “It’s an honor to finally meet you, your highness.”

Roy lifted him to his feet. “Believe me, the honor is all mine.”

He turned in circles, looking at everything, until he was dizzy. Laughing, he fell down.

“Who even is this weirdo?” one of the boys muttered. 

“You idiot, Ed, that’s the prince of Amestris!” Winry hissed back.

Roy leapt to his feet. “I’d like to thank all of you for helping me get free. There is no way I could ever repay you.”

“He could repay me with a lot of money,” Ed muttered.

“Whatever you’d like. Really. Thank you.”

“We’ll need a place to stay for the night, your highness,” Hawkeye said. 

“You can stay with us!” Winry declared. “I’ll go tell granny.”

“Hey wait up, we’re coming too.” Ed and the other boy ran after her. 

“And me. I want to pay Pinako a visit after all this time.” The soldier turned to the two of them. “Will you be alright?”

“We’ll be fine, Mr. Hughes, we'll catch up to you later,” Hawkeye responded. 

Hughes shot them a knowing look over his shoulder as he left, and then they were alone.

“Well.”

“Well.” Roy shifted, suddenly nervous. “Riza Hawkeye. You saved me.”

“You helped.” She stepped closer. 

“I’ll never be able to compensate for—

She stopped him mid-sentence by thrusting herself forward and kissing him. Surprised, he floundered for a moment, and then kissed her back. After an inconclusive amount of time they broke apart. She looked away.

“I think it’s my turn to apologize.”

“Please, don’t.” He put his arms around her waist, drawing her in again. “Call it…a particularly creative way of me expressing my gratitude.”

She laughed. “In that case, would you like to express your gratitude some more?”

“Certainly.”

So he did.


End file.
